Laoshan Bilochun Green

I’m posting this under last fall’s Bilochun, but actually I’m drinking the spring one, which looks VERY different from the fall version. The fall version was rolled into nuggets, which is the way I’ve always seen bilochun, but the spring version is rolled longways. If you want to see it, here’s the page.
http://verdanttea.com/teas/laoshan-bilochun-green/#what

Anyway, it’s very tasty! It’s amazing to me that simply by rolling up the leaves you can alter the flavor! So this is delightfully green like spinach or other greens fresh from my garden, but with a hazelnut taste to it as well. It’s sweet, but it’s also nicely savory.

This is really hitting the spot today. Such a wonderful sweet rich nutty bright GREEN tea :)

Just what I was in the mood for!

So the time has come for me to open more of my hoarded Verdant samples lol. This one has been on my mind for a few days. I couldn’t remember exactly how much of the Laoshan green I had been using to make my cups, but I used about 1.5 tsp in my brew basket and did the first steep as 10 seconds and have been increasing by 2 for each resteep.

First off, the dry smell is like a faint Laoshan green. I have only had the summer harvest (have an autumn sample waiting to be opened though hehe) so that is the tea I will most likely be comparing this to. After 10 seconds, the tea is a very light yellow, so beautiful, I have been snapping pics of it sitting in my double walled tea cup in the sun here, might upload them later :D The steeped smell is a tinge sweet.

And now, the flavor, I am pleasantly surprised that this is very different from the regular Laoshan green! This one is very light and creamy, but instead of savory, it is definitely more on the sweet side, and I find that a sweet, nutty taste is the most prominent. It actually is reminding me a bit more of the Laoshan Genmaicha due to that lovely sweetness, but it’s a bit different than that too, more nuts than corn like. I gave the second steep to my boyfriend, who downed it quite happily as he does with straight green teas. I may have slightly underleafed this time around though, it seems a little on the light side, but the flavor is still very good. Maybe I will increase steep times for the next few cups to see if it will help my underleafing.

Overall, a very delicious cup of green tea. I might prefer the straight laoshan green savoriness a bit more, but that might change after I have a few more cups of this! Another wonderful tea from Verdant that I’m happy I snagged to sample while it was available!

ETA – The third steep is a rich light green color, a sharp contrast to the first two. The flavor has also become a bit more savory, but with a sweet aftertaste. Mmmmm this is a very nice tea, I am enjoying how the flavors have been slightly changing already!

Mmmm having a cup of this tonight while I watch friends play video games. I can’t play them for crap but I do love the story lines :)

I can’t recall if this was a sample from kittenna or a purchase but I am enjoying tasting this green. Greens aren’t my tea of choice but I can appreciate a nice green when I have it.

This is a tasty tea. I think i’m just too tired to write a tasting note that talks about the tea haha

I know I don’t have too much of this one, and figured I should try to get to it before it’s been sitting around too long, hence a cup today! I went looking for brewing instructions this time, but strangely, the page on the Verdant website didn’t list any. So I just went with somewhat default green parameters, although I unfortunately oversteeped (which is annoying, because I know that vegetal greens are really much tastier with about 1-minute infusions, not closer to 3, even if it doesn’t ruin them). So yeah, this one got about 3 minutes. Oops. It’s not bad, but I’m finding it a bit watery right now (probably a “me” thing, not a tea thing) so it’s less enjoyable than it was the first time. I’m also missing the beany/rock sugary deliciousness that gets hidden with a too-long infusion. Sigh.

I had the pleasure of drinking this unique offering and the Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green with my mum yesterday after I set up her Zojirushi (more on that later). I gifted my mom with four of Verdant’s green teas for Christmas as she is often talking about needing/wanting to drink more green tea (she started drinking coffee this past year!?!!) We started with the regular Laoshan Green and infused it at least six times between a walk and sweeping her patio. She had hard time tasting much the first two infusions. I told her her tongue would get used to it. But I found it very beany, sweet and creamy.

This Bilochun was immediately more savory, nutty and stronger but still creamy, sweet and with the distinct green bean quality of Laoshan’s terrior. I also kept thinking it had an almost roasted quality, even though I was pretty sure it wasn’t roasted and it maintained a very fresh greenness. Interesting what a little bit of hand rolling will do. My mom preferred this one and while I certainly enjoyed it, I think I prefer the lighter sparkling sweetness of the non-rolled, but need to try it again. I’m very curious as to how the the hand rolling might affect Laoshan Black.

I can’t wait to try the Autumn Harvest Laoshan Dragonwell Style Laoshan Green with her and see if she can pick out the cherry notes in Mrs. Li’s Dragonwell. We both got glass tumblers with flat strainers at the top for Christmas so we can sip together all day. Unfortunately the Zojirushi is not going to work out for her and I need to find another variable temperature kettle that has a 170-175 setting, will hold that temperature but does not automatically bring the water up to a boil first. But that’s more for the forums.

As noted by Terri this version does not look like the picture. It is flat rolled into long dark brittle twists. This tea does some funky stuff. First off, I don’t know why one steeps still boggle my mind but they do. Starts out crisp with a bite and a tingle to the cheeks and sides of the tongue. It is creamy and salty but not buttery when hot. It reminds me of pea pods in taste. As it cools and I continue to steep this becomes incredibly sweet. It also begins to feel like melted butter with out the greasy feel. It really is incredibly good. Thanks Terri.

Holy hazelnut batman! I have only a minute to write this but oh man this is SO delicious. And I didn’t even have a chance to try it hot. Got stuck on the phone and by the time I got there it was almost iced haha.
There is a very deep, nutty flavour, accented by a light fresh note, like watercress. Slight astringency. I am blown away by the decadent lingering aftertaste. I feel as if I’ve eaten a hazelnut truffle dipped in champagne.
Wayyyyy in the background of course, there is a vegetal bean-ish taste. An odd combination, but it works!!
The second infusion should be interesting…

There are some teas that I come back to after some time and realize that they are better than I remember (the reverse is also true). Fortunately, this time, the former is true. I like that this tea isn’t as strong and astringent as the regular Laoshan Green. I made a cup this morning and again this evening, steeping both for 2min at 170 and both were equally pleasing. It is ironic that I’ve been trying to use this one up to make room for new teas and now I want more of it. Why can’t my tastebuds make up their mind eh? :p

Yummmm. For some reason I hadn’t opened my sample of this yet, and decided tonight was a good night for it.

I can taste similarities between this and the laoshan green, but this is far sweeter, creamier, and slightly nutty. It feels thick on the tongue instead of sparkling. I taste a little of the laoshan green bean/asparagus flavor but it’s a lot more understated in this tea. The sweetness in this almost reminds me of a spring oolong.

Another fantastic tea from the He family. :)